At the beginning of May, I attended National Library Legislative Days (NLLD) in Washington, DC. I joined Terri Fredericka from INFOhio as well as representatives from the State Library, Marietta and Miami Colleges, Columbus, Toledo and Cleveland Public Libraries, OPLIN, OhioLink, Overdrive and other library professionals. I was the only school librarian, and I felt privileged to be in such good company. As a team, we met with Senator Rob Portman’s and Senator Sherrod Brown’s offices. After the two meetings with senators, we divided into groups to visit Ohio members of congress.

Participating in NLLD gave me the opportunity to listen to Beverly Cain, State Librarian of Ohio, speak wonderfully about libraries in Ohio and Steve Potash, Overdrive CEO, expound on the respect that other states and countries have for Ohio libraries. Nikki Scarpitti, of Columbus Metropolitan Library, and other librarians from large public systems around Ohio talked about great programming that is being provided to their patrons. Terri, OPLIN and OhioLink representatives communicated the digital resource sharing that makes it possible for all patrons in our state to access quality databases.

As I listened to these professionals advocating for our Ohio libraries, I was grateful that we have such strong advocates for the citizens of Ohio. Along with being grateful for these advocates, I contemplated the importance of teacher-librarians around the state. When given the opportunity to speak, I drew attention to the vital role we play in setting our young patrons up for future library use. Students spend years in our buildings and our behavior toward them and our enthusiasm for our jobs will have a lasting impact.

As teacher-librarians:

We lay the foundation of confidence in libraries and librarians that students will draw on in their future;

As we help them find a good book to read, prepare a speech for a class presentation, search for colleges and scholarships, or research “boring” topics for assigned papers, we are teaching them that libraries are a reliable place to go for future information needs;

Helping a student find a quiet place to sit and get away from the stress of the cafeteria or classroom will form a memory that the library is a safe place;

As an adult, trying to learn a new skill, tomorrow’s patron will remember that in their youth the school librarian helped, without criticizing, when they needed assistance with their iPad or other device;

When they are looking for a book to read to their future children, they will remember the librarian who taught them to love Junie B. Jones and take their child to the library;

As a new college student panicking over college research, they will remember the patience of their high school librarian as they aided them in database use and citation creation;

When adults receive “fake news” in their inbox, they will remember the teacher-librarian who repeatedly preached: Check the source!

I am a link in a chain of resources; I need to manage my part of the chain well so that my patrons have confidence in their future college and community libraries. Among all of the tedious tasks that teacher-librarians are asked to do, let’s not forget that we are here to help students become lifelong learners and informed citizens, and hopefully, introduce them to some great books along the way. The library will forever be the greatest resource of information and learning that our citizenry has. Dark school libraries break the chain for many of Ohio’s students and they never receive the skills of those with an effectively functioning school library. We must advocate for all schools to have a library staffed by a licensed teacher-librarian.

Advocacy is hard. Advocacy is uncomfortable. Advocacy takes time. Our students are worth it. Advocate with a phone call, tweet, email or Facebook post. Talk libraries to everyone you meet. Practice your elevator speech. Let’s work together to ensure the chain of libraries remains strong for all Ohioans, regardless of their age, school district or community.

ILEAD USA: Innovative Librarians Explore, Apply & Discover the 21st Century Technology and Leadership Skills Institute for the United States is a professional development for all types of librarians. It is a program that teaches librarians to work with each other, develop their leadership skills and use participatory and emerging technologies to solve a clear problem in their community. ILEAD nurtures the development of a team project over a nine month period. This year four teams of four to five individuals make up ILEAD Ohio. Teams must have individuals representing at least two different library types and at least three different libraries. ILEAD Ohio takes place every two years and began in 2013. The program is supported in-part by the State Library of Ohio with federal funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services with additional support provided by the Kent State University School of Library and Information Science.

My ILEAD team selected is comprised of Blair Tom, assistant director of Muskingum County Library System, Cory Roush, school-age literacy specialist, Muskingum County Library System, Jennifer Myers, elementary library tech, John McIntire Elementary School and myself, Lori Lee, district librarian, Zanesville City Schools. Putting together this team was very easy because there are several smaller collaborations already happening between Zanesville City Schools and the Muskingum County Library System. We didn’t realize how rich our team dynamics already were until we attended our first of three in-person retreats at Mohican State Park Lodge and Conference Center.

During our three days at Mohican, we were introduced to the other teams from around the state, the State Library facilitators, and our mentors. The other teams were made up of public librarians and academic librarians that did not already have working relationships. Many did not even work in the same cities. We also discovered that Zanesville City Schools is the first public school library participating in ILEAD Ohio. As school librarians, Jennifer and I contributed a different perspective to many of the conversations over the three days.

The focus of these first three days centers on two areas: developing the team dynamic and filming a promotional project video. Our first day we went through the True ColorsTM personality training. The core of the True Colors system identifies intrinsic values, communication styles, listening styles, and more. This training provided us with an increased understanding of self and each other, thereby increasing trust and reducing conflict in team dynamics. Other sessions covered teamwork tendencies, mindful awareness exercises, the changing conditions of libraries and managing diversity and the future of libraries. There was also a session on tips for creating great videos. This also included the directions for making our project video. The filming and editing of our 3-5 minute video took place during the evening hours.

The culminating event was the viewing of each team project video and be presented with the grant check of $3000. Here is our video introducing our collaborative project https://youtu.be/Nzb4dr6EVok .

Our team is excited to begin planning and rolling out our project. We will continue our team planning in June again at Mohican. So far this has been a very unique professional development experience, because of the focus on collaboration and the longevity of the project. The ILEAD experience wraps up next October, but I know that our efforts will impact the students, parents, and community of Zanesville for years to come.

“Popping the Fake News Bubble: Engaging Students in 21st Century Media and Information Literacy,” sponsored by OELMA and CMCIG of ALAO, will be held on Monday, June 19, 2017, at the OSU-Newark Campus, 1179 University Drive, Newark (43055). Featuring a hands-on keynote with media literacy expert, Frank W. Baker (http://frankwbaker.com/), as well as concurrent sessions, poster sessions, maker stations for lesson plans, tech tools, assessment ideas as well as opportunities to network – this summer workshop will give you the tools to engage teachers and students come the fall. Register today – https://aom.formstack.com/forms/oelmasummer.

To write this blog post (and for my own amusement), I typed “fake news” as a Google search. In 67 seconds, Google returned 169,000,000 results. “Fake news” has become the hot topic of 2016-17. Unfortunately, says Kathy Dempsey of Libraries are Essential, many people don’t understand what fake news is (intentionally leading articles, often published for profit or gain) and what it is not (any news that you don’t agree with). Dempsey, in the May 2017 Information Today “We the People” column entitled “What’s Behind Fake News and What Can We Do about It?” implores librarians to “get their hands dirty.”

Let’s get over the hype and start getting our hands dirty – after all, we are the information educators in our departments, in our schools, in our districts. When it comes to information, we know how to find it, how to verify it, how to use it, and how to cite it. As Dempsey says – “Why are you not at the forefront of this movement?” Are we creating portals of information? Are we sharing fact-checking advice on social media? Are we promoting our text- or chat- reference services for quick answers? Are we creating programs such as “How to Find the Truth” (Dempsey). Librarians are among the most trusted professionals and libraries the most trusted institutions, so in Dempsey’s words “why not use some of this clout to step up and start teaching how to separate fact from fiction.”

So consider this Summer Workshop, the first step in getting your hands dirty. We don’t have to use political examples we know there is plenty of fake news out there. Let’s bring our communities back to reality and prove the adage that our students (citizens) need libraries now more than ever.

As the current OELMA treasurer, I have served two terms which means that it’s coming to an end December 2017. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on the Executive Board for OELMA, and encourage any of you future leaders to apply for the position. Don’t be nervous if you’re not a “numbers” person. I’m not either, I rely on Lisa Kirr to get the spreadsheet information to me and she does a fabulous job. I will miss the contact that I have with all of the OELMA folks when we go to our meetings in Columbus. They have truly energized my commitment to the profession and I always come away from the meetings with ideas to use in my library or with my staff.

Now for the main topic of this month’s blog: the role that I play in my school relating to technology. Although I have never really thought of myself as a technology expert, I was surprised at the knowledge that I do have when I started working for my district two years ago. I work for a very small, local school district and unfortunately, we are little behind when it comes to technology. This is the first school year that we are giving online AIR tests and most of the teachers and administrators are understandably nervous and apprehensive. The vice principal put together a group of teachers, including myself that are acting as test administrators and it appears to be going fine, thus far.

This is the time of the year that I start planning for next school year. I have tried to implement one to two new things in years past. I’ve been inspired for next school year to have monthly sessions for teachers in tech training. In the past, I thought this might be accomplished at monthly staff meetings but we have the quickest staff meetings they last approximately ten minutes. After considering my options, I have decided on the best time is during lunch hours. We have three of them and although I have been told by some teachers that they work through their lunch, I have decided to sweeten the pot by offering to provide desert if they will bring their lunch. I will let the teachers know approximately two weeks in advance what we will be talking about so that they can decide if it is worth their while to attend. I am also going to approach our curriculum director to see if I can possibly offer CEUs. We all know how frequently Google changes their tools and apps. INFOhio usually updates their site once or twice a school year as well. I also plan to showcase new books, ebooks and items that I bring into the library. In addition, I am exposed to a ton of new ideas that I am eager to share with teachers when I attend the OELMA conference, which by the way, will be held October 18-20 at the Doubletree-Columbus in Worthington. I hope to see a lot of you there! Meanwhile, if anybody out there in library land has any ideas for tech training sessions or would like to share what they do in their districts-I would appreciate the feedback.

Lead beyond the Library – what is your superpower? Do you like planning and implementing professional development opportunities in your building or district? Are you a lifelong learner who wants to get involved at the regional and national level? Do you like networking with like-minded professionals? Do you see yourself as a school library advocate? Then check out the responsibilities of the Vice-President.

If you’ve served on the Executive Board as Secretary or Treasurer or as a Director then you may be ready to assume this three-year commitment to the Board. The VP assumes the duties of the President in the event of absence or incapacity. The VP serves as the Chair of the Annual Conference held in conjunction with the Annual Membership meeting. The VP works closely with the Director Liaison to Conference, the Conference Committee, and the Director of Services, Lisa Kirr.

Among the responsibilities of the VP are: submitting Board reports at each meeting (6); submitting Newsletter articles (4); works with Director of Services, Treasurer, and Budget and Finance Subcommittee to develop a conference budget; coordinates with the Director Liaison to Teaching & Learning to determine SLMS Competencies; works with the Director of Services to check the adequacy of space for exhibits, large and small meetings, parking and other accommodations; works with Director of Services to determine charges for exhibits, rooms, meals, registration, and other fees; works with the Director of Services to develop the conference program and reports preliminary plans to the Board at all Board meetings; works with the Director of Services, to check with speakers regarding such items as arrival and departure times and hotel arrangements so that proper planning can be made for meals, lodging and transportation; works with Director of Services on information concerning the program, speakers, and photos needed. Arranges for the printing of the conference program and its distribution to registrants at the conference; arranges for letters of acknowledgement to be sent after the conference to program speakers, conference committee members, hotel personnel, and others who contributed to the success of the conference; attends at the Association’s expense and as the budget permits, statewide meetings/conferences and national conferences where continuity of representation is desirable; serves as member of Operations Strategic Committee; appoints chairs for strategic committees and special committees prior to taking office and subject to Board approval at the first Board meeting of the year.

By:Lori Pringle, District Library Media Specialist, East Holmes Local Schools

One of the ways we can encourage our students to develop a love of reading is to give them an opportunity to read some of the best, newly-published books and to get them talking and writing about them. Each fall, excitement builds at East Holmes for the annual Mock Caldecott program in which students read some of the best children’s books published that year, post reviews online, and eventually vote for their favorites.

Across our district, elementary library paraprofessionals partner with the Holmes County District Public Library to provide copies of the mock contenders for display within each of our libraries during November and December. The paraprofessionals share the picture books with the students during their weekly library visits through booktalks and read alouds. Students learn the ALA selection criteria during library lessons. After the students and staff experience the Mock Caldecott contenders, they are invited to submit a brief review, reflecting their reaction to the book using an embedded Google Form. Reviews are monitored and posted on the Mock Caldecott website under the corresponding book.

In January, East Holmes patrons revisit our website to cast their vote for their favorite Mock Caldecott using another embedded Google Form. Our East Holmes Mock Caldecott winner and honor books are announced just before the official Caldecott awards are presented by the American Library Association mid-January of each year.

For the past three years, I have been fortunate to collaborate with Mr. Dan McKey, Winesburg and Mt. Hope Elementary principal. Mr. McKey’s love of children’s literature is the heart of our Mock Caldecott and his grant writing expertise made it a reality. Each year, Mr. McKey scours blogs, book reviews, and websites to prepare our list of book contenders, while I maintain the website. Although Mr. McKey is retiring at the end of this school year, the Mock Caldecott will continue in his honor. I look forward to collaborating with our teachers and library paraprofessionals to select the contenders for our 2017 Mock Caldecott.

Lead beyond the Library – what is your superpower? Do you like planning and implementing professional development opportunities in your building or district? Do you like networking with like-minded professionals? Then check out the responsibilities of the Director Liaison to Regional Representation. The third of the three new positions on the Board of Directors, the Director Liaison is a two-year term. When OELMA restructured its governance, many OELMA members were concerned about keeping those open lines of communication among the regions. The Director Liaison to RR does just that – promotes and maintains communication with regions within Ohio in accordance with Board-approved policies. This position allows for lots of creativity. Here are some of the responsibilities we’ve identified as being crucial to this position:

Consults with the Vice President, President, and Executive Director to identify OELMA members to serve as representatives that correspond to the ITC regions (https://www.infohio.org/about/gov)

Consults with INFOhio and ITCs to develop a plan for regional representation,

Maintains communication with regional representatives about such issues as membership, the status of school libraries and librarians in region’s districts, etc.

Consults with Director Liaison to Operations (membership) about developing and implementing surveys to determine the status of school libraries.

Uses school library data to inform Director Liaison to Communication and Executive Committee about impending retirements, layoffs, etc. that affect the quality of school library programs in Ohio

Lead beyond the Library – what is your superpower? Do you like networking with people? Do you like organizing things? Are you detailed oriented? Then check out the responsibilities of the Director Liaison to Operations. This is the second of three new positions on the OELMA Board of Directors. The Director Liaison to Operations serves a two-year term and works with the Archives, Budget and Finance, Bylaws and Policy, Membership, and Nominations sub-committees. Operations is basically the nuts and bolts functions of the association and offers lots of opportunities to think outside the box – for example, now that OELMA stores all of its documents in the cloud – what implications does this have for our Archives? What are the best practices for archives in the time of the cloud? Other responsibilities include:

By-laws, Archives, Budget and Finance

Maintain, monitor, and update the official records (Bylaws and policy), documents (archives, mission, vision, strategic plan), and financial health (budget and finance) associated with the governing of the Association.

Membership

Advises the Board on matters related to membership structure and dues; consults with Communication Strategic Committee to develop new member and promotional information about the Association (includes student website); consults with Regional Representation Strategic Committee about member promotion, concerns, etc.

Nominations/Leadership Development

Conducts nominations and elections in accordance with provisions in the By-laws of the Association; identifies and develops leadership within the Association

You’re probably aware that March is National Women’s History Month, and April is not only National Poetry Month but also School Library Month. But did you know that overlapping March and April is Deaf History Month? Thanks to the efforts of deaf librarian Alice Hagemeyer, in 2006 the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and the American Library Association (ALA) announced March 13 – April 15 as Deaf History Month. Currently, Senate Bill 27 is working its way through the Ohio legislature to establish March 13 – April 15 as Ohio Deaf History Month. (Read more about the bill here).

Why such odd dates spanning two calendar months? This period of time encompasses three key dates in American Deaf history. March 13 marks the day in 1988 when the Deaf President Now protest culminated in the naming of Dr. I. King Jordan as the first deaf president of Gallaudet University. Gallaudet in Washington, DC, is the only liberal arts college for the deaf in the world. It was founded April 8, 1864, when Abraham Lincoln signed the charter for the college, then called Columbia Institution for Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind. The closing date of April 15 signifies the establishment of American School for the Deaf in Hartford, CT as the first permanent public school for the deaf in 1817.

Following are some resources to support the observance of Deaf History Month: